Page 47 of His Tenth Dance

“Yes,” Kristie said. “But?—”

“There’s no ‘but.’” He slapped down the cheese and put the bread over it, then turned toward her. “Kris, you don’t have to personally be there.”

She’d taken a few bites of her sandwich, and now she set it back on her plate. “She’smyresponsibility.”

“Is she?” Mission asked. “You’re the vet, like you said. You came and did your job. Do you sit at a horse’s bedside for days on end every time there’s an injury on a farm?”

Her expression stormed. Her jaw tightened, and Mission had the answer to his question. Exactly. She didn’t at other farms, and she didn’t need to here.

“There are plenty of capable people here,” he said to drive his point home. He probably shouldn’t even be having this conversation right now. Not when they were both exhausted, hungry, and worried.

But he couldn’t help adding, “You don’t have to be the one sitting outside the stall.”

“Who else is going to do it?” she barked at him. She picked up her sandwich and took another bite. When she looked at him this time, her expression held plenty of challenge.

“You don’t trust us here, is that it?”

Her eyes fired lasers at him as she chewed and swallowed. “That horse has a very serious condition, and?—”

“We know that,” Mission said, almost over the top of her. “A lot of us have a lot of experience with horses. And I don’t know all the technical terms, and I don’t have a portable X-ray machine in the back of my car, but I understood you when you told me what was wrong with Lady, and what we needed to do to make sure there was no infection. Those we’ve put on the schedule know how to check that, and they all have your number. We don’t expect you to rearrange your whole schedule to sit with Lady.”

He turned back to the pan and flipped his bread and eggs. He added the rest of his sandwich ingredients and folded his bread together.

Realizing he’d rushed the toasting out of frustration, he put it back in the pan and turned to the fridge.

“I’ve got milk or orange juice,” he said. “Or water.”

“Orange juice, please,” Kristie said, her voice made of meekness.

Mission pulled out the carton and poured her a glass. He took it over to her and crouched down in front of her. “It’s okay to rely on someone besides yourself.”

Her face turned red. She looked like she might spit some harsh words at him, but she took a shallow breath and puffed it out. Then another one. The third time it became longer, and the color in her face drained away.

“I’m trying,” she said. “It’s hard for me to trust people.” Open vulnerability sat in her expression then, and Mission nodded because he understood.

“Do you trust me?” he asked.

It took her a moment while she glanced down at her sandwich before she looked at him again—and nodded.

“All right, then, kitten.” He smiled at her. “So let’s just take this night to rest and recover. Okay? You can sit with Lady all day tomorrow, if you want.”

He expected her to throw some of her sass back at him, but instead she nodded and said, “Okay, Mish. Thank you.”

He dropped to his knees and took her face in his hands. He wanted to tell her that he admired her strength and resilience. That he’d loved watching her work with such a cool and calm demeanor that evening. That he would stand between her andanyonewho dared to hurt her, and that his heart ached knowing she’d been living in a place where she didn’t trust anyone around her.

He didn’t know how to put all of those feelings into words, so he simply leaned forward and kissed her.

They’d shared many kisses over the past couple of weeks, but again, this one felt different, even from the quick one she’d given him before going to shower.

Mission felt like he needed to have his mouth on hers to keep breathing. He needed her presence in his life for it to have any meaning at all, and he kissed her with all of those powerful things flowing through him, hoping she would feel and understand them as if he had spoken them out loud.

The best part about kissing Kristie was that she kissed him back with the same level of passion and power and, yes, trust.

As he kept kissing her, Mission hoped and prayed that he could lose his heart to this woman…while keeping it intact.

sixteen

Kristie lay down on the couch while Mission finished up with the dishes in the kitchen. She wasn’t surprised that he couldn’t leave them until morning, but she was surprised that she didn’t fall asleep instantly.

---